As I touched on in a previous post, occasion plays a crucial role in the innovation process for fast moving consumer goods.  In order to influence consumer choice, we must first comprehensively understand it.  To do this we need to understand usage occasion and occasion requirements.

Consumers are confronted with a wide assortment of occasions, each with a unique set of requirements driven by the occasion circumstances/ facts.  We need to understand the occasion at a level far deeper than occasion facts (the who, what, when, where, facts of an occasion).  For example, each person sitting in a restaurant at a specific location and time of day are in the exact same occasion-fact situation; however, everyone orders something different.  We need to understand the why underlying occasion choice, not just the what/when/where aspects, which are just not as actionable.

Each unique occasion sparks a set of occasion requirements and consumers perceptually align existing market alternatives to these needs to help formulate a consideration set.  Choice is then a ‘best available’ fit exercise, using past experiences to evaluate which of the alternatives is the most desired for the occasion at hand.

At this point, we have the opportunity to identify white space in the market, as not all occasions have the ideal option available to fulfill the consumer’s needs.  Opportunity surfaces when existing market alternatives fall short of ideal occasion or product requirements.

Hence, it is vital to study the usage occasion, as each one is unique and drives its own set of unique requirements.  It is important to note the distinction between purchase occasion and usage occasion – purchase occasion drivers are too blunt to capture the granularity of occasion choice.

For example, a consumer makes a single purchase decision when they buy a 12-pack of Coke; however, that 12-pack can be emptied in 12 highly unique consumption occasions with varied levels of product satisfaction.  The Coke may be used as a mid-morning energy pickup, a lunchtime food companion, an alcoholic mixer, or an afternoon sweet snack and so on.  The performance ability of each can of Coke in each unique occasion is likely very different – perfect as a food partner yet lacking key benefits as an ideal energy boost.  We need to understand the occasion-centric performance of market alternatives against occasion needs to identify opportunities to innovate.

Occasion is one of the primary building blocks in the innovation process.  A gap between ideal need and best available performance can only be discovered by studying the usage occasion, and can deliver the power to shift purchase behavior.

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